


Shadows Owe Their Birth To Light

by MissCricket



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Age Difference, Blackwatch, Blackwatch (Overwatch) - Freeform, Blackwatch Era, Blackwatch Jesse McCree, Blackwatch Reaper | Gabriel Reyes, Blackwatch Sombra (Overwatch), F/M, Families of Choice, Family Feels, M/M, Multi, Reaper76 friendship, SEP makes Gabriel & Jack age slower, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Team as Family, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-05-28 07:33:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15043865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissCricket/pseuds/MissCricket
Summary: [AU] Gabriel sometimes wonders if recruiting McCree and Sombra was a good idea. Oh who's he kidding...of course it wasn't a good idea. But he'd choose them every time.





	1. 2054 The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be a slow burn, with many feelings and issues, angst and friendship along the way. It's sort of a fix-it, or more like a canon divergence. Will Overwatch fall in this timeline? Well that's yet to be decided, but it should be a hell of a trip.

Olivia had never really had choices before.

The Omnic Crisis had begun long before she was born, a grueling hardfought war that had meant probable extinction for humanity if they lost. She’d had no say in whether she’d wanted to get embroiled in it, first as a newborn baby born in a rundown hospital, or as the weeping toddler she’d been as the Omnics destroyed her village and killed her parents as they hid her in the rustic cellar under their small home.

She remembered her mother’s eyes, purple like her own, filled with tears and fear as she kissed her, before the cellar was sealed by a heavy metal door.

The cellar had been dark, full of shadows and a faint flickering light through the small ventilation grids in the floor. She’d heard the door get shredded by gunfire, her father shouting, her mother’s screams and then there had been silence.

Except for the ominous, deliberate clanging steps of the Omnics above as they scanned for survivors.

She stayed where she was, shivering, frightened, until the hatch was suddenly thrown open and she’d been fished out by rescuers. Wrapped up in a blanket, tiny hands clutching a child sized cup of watery cocoa, she remembered knowing that she’d never see her mother or her father again.

To be fair there had been some small attempts to look after her. They took her to Dorado, away from the now destroyed village she’d only ever known, with murmurs of foster families and safety. Only she’d gotten lost in the system, with so many orphans to take care of, overrunning the entire place, it had been easy to slip away, and go off on her own.

At first hacking had been entertaining, a game to amuse a child far too smart for her own good. She’d learned from grubby, underground men and women, who’d been amused by her questions. When she became better than them, she found new teachers...and new systems to crack.

In the system she called herself Sombra.

Shadow.

Information she soon realised, was power. She ran errands for people and used stolen tech to gather more and more of it, insatiable in her desire to learn everything. Powerful people had powerful secrets. She used these to get herself more tech, better tech.

Until one day, bored with targeting small time power players, she tried something harder, something challenging, something worthy of her skills.

The U.N.

Oh they had security, but they were overconfident. They believed themselves the last remaining voice of authority in the quiet after the storm of war. It made them sloppy.

It made them a target too sweet to resist.

But now, now it means she has a choice as to the direction of her future.

She looks down at the drive in her hand, large and daunting as she considers her options.

Then she smirks, fingers curling around it as she pulls on her favourite purple hoodie and fills her ragged backpack with the things she most wants to keep.

The rest she leaves behind, in the tiny hole in the wall apartment she’d changed the deeds of to claim as her own, security in place.

It will be here if she needs it.

But she hopes she won’t need it for a long time to come.

* * *

Up until today the number of times Gabriel Reyes had been really, and truly surprised, could have been counted on one hand.

None of it seems to hold up as he and Jack stare at the solemn vividly purple eyes of the girl child blinking back at them across the coffee table.

"So let me get this straight, niña," Gabriel growls, trying to temper his usually aggressive tones into something that doesn't resemble disbelief or outright hostility. From the girl's eyes narrowing, he's not sure he's done a good job, "You, all two and a half spits of you,  _ managed to hack the UN _ ."

"Si," the girl responds, little chin coming up in a stubborn little jut that reminds him forcefully of Fareeha. This girl looks to be about her age, perhaps a little younger; as she's much smaller in build, with the sharp look of someone who's missed a lot of meals over the years.

If she is Fareeha’s age, it means she’s only nine or ten at least… though his money’s on younger.

And she’s claiming to have hacked the U.N.

Gabe makes a noise of disbelief.

Jack shoots him a small glare as the girl folds her arms.

"It's not that we don't believe you Miss Sombra," Jack's voice is smooth, soothing. He's a natural with kids; Fareeha hero worships him, although it's Gabriel she pesters to teach her more unconventional fighting styles.

Meaning, she went to Gabe to learn how to fight a bit dirty.

"It's just that you're…well…" Jack gestures, presumably towards her diminutive height, or age,  "And it's the U.N. One of the most secure locations in the world."

"Is it because I am young, or because I am a girl, that it surprises you," Sombra retorts in perfect English, young voice piping, albeit with a heavy Mexican accent. As Jack splutters, trying to reassure her that it's not her femininity that has him in doubt, those purple eyes track back to meet Gabriel's.

His stomach clenches.

He recognises that look in her eyes, a bone deep recognition of like-meeting-like. The filthy streets of his childhood neighbourhood are an eternally vivid memory, as is the one of seeing his Madre getting gutted by a makeshift blade while another man holds him back.

This little one is alone as well, he can tell from the half healed cuts and bruises, the press of bone against smooth coffee gold skin, and the look in those youthful but ancient violet eyes.

She is young, but she's no longer a child.

And she hasn't been for a while.

"So you hacked the U.N." he holds up the tablet, "Why bring this to us?"

Jack's blue eyes track up to the tablet, darkening with outrage again, before he looks back at the girl before them.

"Los Muertos," Sombra, gestures she speaks, a casual flick of her fingers "They have an interest in me."

Gang, Gabriel immediately recognises the name, a small but rapidly growing cartel in Mexico. He's had his eye on them for some time, gathering intel on their weapons and drug trading. Their ongoing feud with the Deadlock Gang has lifted them up his priority list, though not to the top...yet.

"I'm sure they do," He nods, an operation like Los Muertos, or indeed Deadlock, would kill to have someone like this girl working for them. Hacking skills like these could open up a million doors.

"So they want to recruit you," Jack's frowning slightly, he has always had a thing about petty crime, and gangs are an instant way to get him pissed off, "That doesn't explain why you're here."

Oh but it does, Gabriel thinks, watching the girl's eyelashes droop, looking down in a flash of movement before she looks up again.

"No," he answers her unasked request, "Overwatch does not recruit children."

Jack stiffens.

"I am useful,"

"You are a child," Jack's voice is unyielding; "War is no place for a child."

"The war is over," her response is quick, and Gabriel considers her with interest. She's smart, and with a shifty mind he finds intriguing. If she were ten... fifteen years older he would be pulling out all the stops to recruit her, "It is over and yet I was in the war when I was just a baby. I survived it."

"That's not the same thing…"

Sombra’s chin juts out stubbornly, fiercely determined, "You owe me."

"Excuse me?" Jack sounds scandalised.

Gabriel, on the other hand, is delighted.

"You owe me for this information."

"This isn't a negotiation…" Jack splutters, feeling like he’s losing control of the situation. Gabriel knows from the tell tale pinking of his ears, and the flush on his neck. Jack’s flushes have always been a giveaway.  "You are a child."

"I am useful;" those shockingly purple eyes meet Gabriel's again, before returning to Jack's, suddenly filled with tears, a heartbreaking quiver in her voice, "Please do not turn me away."

Clever girl, Gabriel thinks appreciatively, as Jack falters. Morrison is a do-gooder, an optimist, an idealist. And this little girl plays him like a master violinist on a Stradivarius.

So much potential.

He’d be a fool to return a gift this good.

"Welcome to Blackwatch," Gabriel says, ignoring the wonderful choking noise Jack makes at his words. He's horrified, spluttering, and Gabe barrels on before he can regain his wits, "Sombra right?"

He already knows that’s her chosen name, but there's no harm in making sure right?

"Yes," She doesn't look surprised by his declaration, and he realises she already knows about Blackwatch. He's impressed, "Do we all get code names?"

Gabriel chuckles and presses a key on his Personal Device. A few moments later one of his agents appears at the door, "Please take Miss Sombra to the guest rooms.”

If his agent is surprised, she doesn't show it, and little Sombra beams as she hops off the seat to follow the other woman.

The instant the door shuts behind them, Jack whirls on him.

"Have you lost your damn mind?!"

"Not in the least." Gabriel sighs, leaning back in his seat and rubs his hands over his face, "Good god Jack, what do you think I'm going to do…take her on a mission?"

"But you-"

"I recruited her to Blackwatch…and she's going to stay safe and sound until she's old enough to make a real decision."

Morrison's eyes narrow.

"You don't want her going back to Mexico."

"No I don’t." Gabriel shakes his head, "Los Muertos is a dirty business Jack, and they're interested in her. How is that any better for a child?"

Jack gets this pinched look that tells Gabriel he's winning.

"But Blackwatch…"

"Hacking is more of our thing than yours," Gabriel points out wryly, and Jack sighs, forced to agree, "You have to have a lawful and logistical reason for every decision….that's why we have Blackwatch. So we can muddy those waters a bit.

Jack sighs at him again, "She's a child Reyes,"

"And she will be safer with us than with anyone else on the planet."

The fair head bows, nodding slightly and Gabriel relaxes, before watching Jack pick up his own Personal Device, containing little Miss Sombra’s data.

He’s going to have to find out her real name, or paperwork is going to be a  _ bitch _ .

Jack’s fingers brush over the tablet, before slowly his cornflower blue eyes lift, and fix on Gabriel’s own hazel green.

"We have to talk about this Gabriel."

He knows they do, but that doesn't mean he wants to. Even the idea of it makes his skin itch in a horrible fashion.

"Do we?"

"Don't play stupid," Jack frowns at him, "This is serious."

"I know how serious it is Jack!" He finally snaps, getting to his feet and pacing away from the table, away from  the tablet, away from the information that he'd known in his gut, but refused to look at until little Sombra walked into the secure Overwatch facility, past all the security,  and demanded to talk to him. "I just…"

Jack's looking at him with those impossibly sad eyes again. He hates that look.

"Now we know why they chose me to be the Strike Commander;" Jack's voice is sad, but steady, "After the Omnic crisis they decided they still needed Overwatch…but…"

"But they feared us," Gabriel sighed, "So they put the white, Boy Scout in charge."

The description clearly rankles Jack, but to his credit he doesn’t argue the point, which tells Gabe more than anything else, how genuinely upset on his behalf Jack is, "They thought I would be easier to control. More likely to follow rules."

"Blackwatch would do their dirty work," Reyes huffed, “And if we were ever exposed the U.N. could easily claim that it was all our doing, with no culpability on their part.”

"They used us," Jack's voice has a betrayed note to it that Gabriel is silently grateful to hear; "They took Overwatch away from you…for what? Just as many Agents wanted you to lead as they did me," he jabs at the screen,  "The testimonies are right here! Why?” his voice quietens slightly “Why did they tell me everyone wanted me instead?"

"Clever," Gabe sighs, slumping into his seat again, "It’s clever tactics Jackie. I was very much a ‘Get the job done no matter the cost’ type leader. Ambitious but very...what’s the word,” his smile is sharp, sharklike, “‘The ends justify the means’. Handy when the world is ending all around us but not so much for their new bright, shiny world enforcement agency. And...” he hesitates, before meeting Jack’s gaze again, “They probably didn’t care about how we felt.”

He can admit his failings, he's terribly competitive, and he doesn't forgive slights…or betrayals.

Jack fits the idea of the Hero, with his cornflower blue eyes, and golden hair, square American jaw and open honest face and demeanour. Gabriel could never deny, even in his darkest thoughts, that Jack was a capable leader. He had that knack, and he was a fantastic public speaker and schmoozer of weedy bureaucrats.

To the U.N Gabriel represented everything they feared in their fledgling organisation. He was loyal, ruthless when needed, shrewd, calculating and with a tendency to throw protocol out the window when the situation required it. He also had no patience for idiots, and told people so to their face.

It hurt, it still hurt, especially after everything he’d given and done during the Crisis…but he could see why they'd fear the task force they created, the beacon they lit. And why they would think it was far too dangerous to leave a man like him in charge.

“I’ll resign,” Jack insists, and Gabe looks over at his friend, surprised by his words, “I’ll resign and then they’ll have to choose you. It should have been you.”

Hearing those words from Jack’s mouth is like cracking a biotic field on the wounds of the last few bitter years. He’d been shocked when the U.N. informed them that the new Overwatch organisation would be lead by Strike Commander Morrison. Shocked and, brutally hurt, in a way he thought he was past being hurt in.

It had been in a meeting, a meeting of the original Task Force. Everyone had known what it was about, everyone knew that they were going to be an official organisation, with resources and facilities, and there had been this air of irrepressible excitement. 

They’d all worked hard for it. They had all deserved this.

Then the chancellor announced the forming of Overwatch. And their new Strike Commander.

Gabriel could remember sitting there, feeling his limbs numb, before that feeling was washed away by a brutal flood of shock, followed closely by embarrassment, as many of the Task Force eyes glanced away from him.

He remembered Jack looking at him, shocked, those blue eyes wide, face pale, before he got up and damn well saluted, accepting the rank as the chancellor pressed some symbol of command into his hands.

It had fractured something between them. Straining something that had once been as effortless as breathing. He’d always thought Jack would be by his side, that they would always be a team. They had fought together for so long now, had been each other’s closest friend for just as long. Jack filled in the spaces he lacked, and he did the same for him.  He’d thought worlds would fall, and empires burn before Jack would ever turn on him.

That moment had felt like a betrayal, one he’d never thought of, and hurt all the more because it.

“You can’t resign Jack,” Gabe sighs, leaning back in his chair, “It’d accomplish nothing…”

“But you…”

“They’ll never make me Strike Commander,” the words hurt to say, but Jack’s unhappy expression, and the knowledge that his friend is on his side, truly on his side, makes it a great deal easier, “Ana will be their next choice.”

Jack sighs and leans forward, “Maybe you’re right…”

“I’m always right.”

That makes him laugh, a surprised bark of laughter that he’s missed hearing.

“Yeah right, Reyes,” Jack’s eyes are bright, like he remembers them being, before all the shadows clustered in them, “You’re getting delusional in your old age.”

Gabriel grins, “Old age? You’re one to talk. I’ve heard you muttering about the recruits Jackie.”

His friend barks that laugh again, and shakes his head, “I swear they’re like puppies. I half expect one of them to piss on the carpet when I’m not looking!”

Gabriel laughs, a real belly laugh, and Jack’s face seems to relax even more, lines that the Blackwatch Commander hadn’t even noticed, easing slightly at the sound. The last few years had been tough on both of them, he realises now, and he’s glad that things seem to have gone back to normal.

One thing was certain.

He definitely owed Sombra for this.


	2. 2054-2055: The Start Of Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.

_The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life._

 

* * *

 

 

Gabriel’s agents are either delighted by Sombra or wary of her, and quietly he finds both reactions hilarious.

 

The Overwatch Agents however are a different story.

 

“Ow!” Gabe winces, rubbing the back of his head as he glares up into the frosty dark eyes of Ana Amari, “Damn it.”

 

“A child.”

 

He winces again as Ana drops the beanie she’d whisked off his head to smack him, on his desk.

 

“Ana…”

 

“How could you Gabriel! What if it was Fareeha?”

 

“Fareeha has a whole family to look out for her,” Gabe points out wryly, leaning back in his seat as Ana circled him to stand, arms folded, before him, “If something happened, there’d be an army to help her. Sombra is alone,”

 

“She’s a child.”

 

“A child who managed to survive an Omnic attack, being orphaned, hunted by gangs and god knows what else.” Gabriel pointed out, “She’s young...but she’s not a child Ana. Not like Fareeha.”

 

Ana sighs, and sat, “She doesn’t belong in Blackwatch Gabriel.”

 

“She hacked the U.N.” Gabriel shuffled the papers on his deck, “Those kinds of skills are Blackwatch skills. She’d be wasted in Overwatch.” He glances at her and sighs at the frown on her face, “Ana…”

 

“It’s not right to raise a child in a Black Ops team.” Ana insists, “I’m sorry Gabriel but you know it’s true. At least in Overwatch she’d have some people to look up to...”

 

His shoulders tense.

 

“Is that so?”

 

Ana sighs again, “I didn’t mean it like that Gabriel, you know I didn’t. But your team has to do things most people can’t. They do it for the greater good, but that doesn’t mean a young girl should be exposed to it at such a tender young age.”

 

She has a point, not that he wants to admit it.

 

“Technically she's not part of either Overwatch or Blackwatch yet.” He taps his pen against the desk, “I think Jack muttered something about her being our ward...anyway,” he levels a look at her, “If Sombra reaches 18 and decides she wants to go and be a florist, then she’ll be welcome to go and do that, with my blessing. Hell, if she decides she wants to be an Overwatch agent rather than a Blackwatch one, that’ll be fine.” it’d sting but that wasn’t the point he was trying to make here, “She’s not trapped Ana. We’re not going to disembowel someone in front of her or something, that’s not what Blackwatch does.”

 

Ana eyes him and then sighs, acknowledging his words with a rueful smile, “Alright Gabriel. I can see you’ve made up your mind about this. Just know...I’m going to be keeping an eye on her.”

 

Gabe snorts quietly, “You’re not the only one, trust me.”

 

* * *

 

 

Sombra settles easily into the Blackwatch wing, as Gabriel knew she would.

 

Jack tried to assign her a room in the main part of the complex, still on his misguided quest to stop her being completely corrupted by Gabriel’s agents. Before Sombra’s recruitment, and his and Jack’s talk, Gabe would have found himself prickling at the implication that he and his agents couldn’t be trusted, or were somehow less than an Overwatch Agent capital letters and all.

 

Now he knows it’s just Jack being a worrier, not trying to undermine him...just being Jack.

 

It’s kind of liberating having some of the personal tension muck from the last few years sloughed off. He owes Sombra for that.

 

Anyway the instant after Jack finished confirming her living arrangements, Sombra was in the system and changed them, giving her rooms next to the other agents in the heart of the secret Blackwatch wing.

 

Jack gives up, it’s all he can do really, although he plaintively asks Gabriel to try and keep her out of Blackwatch dealings.

 

He promises.

 

But behind his back he crosses his fingers, a childish gesture he allows himself from time to time.

 

After all, even if he tried to keep her away, he’s pretty sure Sombra would just see it as a challenge.

 

And she loves challenges.

 

* * *

 

“What’s the Soldier Enhancement Program?”

 

Gabriel yelps, foot catching on something, as he wheels around to glare at the small, purple eyed girl perched on his office couch, tablet in her hand.

 

“How the hell did you get in here!?”

 

“It’s not in any of the official Overwatch files,” Sombra continues, blithely ignoring him as he hobbles over to his desk, “And it’s an encrypted part of your file.”

 

“This office is locked, with a personal code.”

 

“But no one really mentions what it is, hmm...maybe the medical team does.”

 

“I changed the code last night, to stop Jack coming in here and scolding me for falling asleep at my desk.”

 

“Oh both you and Jack have the same encryption key!”

 

Gabriel sighs, “Did you think that maybe the encryption is there for a reason?”

 

“To keep people from knowing about it, si,” Sombra continues to tap on her tablet, “It’s very well done, most people wouldn’t even detect a hidden file bank there.”

 

“Sombra.” he fills his voice with the tone that often makes recruits nearly piss themselves with fear. Sombra of course ignores him.

 

“Medical’s explanation is...wow, 200 pages long.” Sombra looks up at him, purple eyes gleaming, “Long and boring and probably could have been summarised in a fifth of the pages. So tell me Gabe...what is the Soldier Enhancement Program?”

 

“Was.” Gabriel, sighs at her, “Not is, was, it doesn’t exist anymore. And it’s also none of your business, so…”

 

“Tch,” Sombra’s expression is disapproving, “You think I am a child to be spooked by ghost stories. If you will not tell me I will find somewhere else.”

 

“Be my guest.”

 

“Like Jack. He seems the sentimental type...think he’d have any information on it just lying around in his secure files?”

 

That makes Gabe pause.

 

Jack probably did have the documentation of the SEP, Sombra was correct, the man was sentimental. And while neither of them had particularly good memories of their time in the program, apart from meeting each other of course, he also had a tendency to hoard things. Especially paperwork.

 

If Sombra went looking she’d find it easily enough, and combine it with the medical reports to get an idea of it all.

 

That would be fine...except that Jack keeps _everything_. Including Gabriel’s misdemeanors and official punishment reports. He likes to whip them out as a trump card, to remind Gabriel of his youthful indiscretions. Gabe can remember at least three instances of the Strike Team being drunk and Jack regaling them all with a story from their past, complete with details from the reports of their superiors.

 

The Strike team had loved it of course, Reinhardt laughing so hard beer went up his nose, Torbjorn smacking his back as he chuckled uproariously. Even Ana had chuckled, declaring it a wonder they had ever given him Command. He could still see Jack’s answering grin, and feel his arm slung over his shoulder as he declared:

 

“They knew he could get the job done!”

 

As the Team dissolved into laughter, Gabe rolled his eyes, and chuckled, downing his entire drink.

 

His best friend is an ass.

 

The thing is, Gabriel really doesn’t want Sombra rummaging around in Jack’s personal files. Chances are that they are only lowly secured, and if she can hack into Overwatch’s best encryptions, there’s no way that will keep her out.

 

He meets her gaze and sighs.

 

No matter how he answers, he knows Sombra is going to scour every inch of Jack’s vast array of files, it’s there in the mischievous little smirk on her lips.

 

If he challenges her to find the SEP information herself, she’ll go digging, and then probably blame him if Jack catches her at it.

 

If he caves now and tells her, she’ll know there’s something he wants to hide in there...and won’t rest ‘til she finds it.

 

He’s damn well tapped.

 

He can’t help but be impressed.

 

Gods but she would be wasted in Overwatch.

 

He rests his elbows on his desk and clasps his hands before him, levelling her a look as challenging in return.

 

“Are you suggesting you’re going to hack into your superior’s files, Sombra? That’s several felonies right there.”

 

“Not my superior,” Sombra’s retort is quick and makes him grin, “I’m not officially part of Overwatch. Or Blackwatch. Therefore...I’m technically not breaking any rules.”

 

Gabriel arches an eyebrow.

 

“Not any Overwatch rules.” She corrects herself with a small smug smile.

 

He chuckles despite himself, “If you get caught. I’m going to leave you to Jack’s wrath.”

 

It’s a tacit approval, and a warning not to get caught.

 

Sombra’s grin is bright, as she turns back to her tablet, and Gabriel considers his paperwork.

 

If Jack finds out, he knows he’ll take the heat for this. Sombra is young, and supremely talented. He’s never seen someone quite so intuitive at ferreting out information. The last thing he wants is that talent being repressed under the Jack’s disapproval.

 

He’s training his asset.

 

Blackwatch always does things differently after all.

 

* * *

 

Blackwatch was still growing, being a fledgling organisation, growing in the shadows of Overwatch.Well funded, with some of the best people in the world.

 

Gabe is very proud of it.

 

There are several Blackwatch facilities around the world, run by men and women he handpicked, and vetted personally. They permanently live there and keep an eye on unfolding situations locally. There’s one located just near Dorado, the one where Sombra located him and Jack. Normally Jack wouldn’t be allowed in Blackwatch facilities, his rule, not Gabe’s. Jack is all about the plausible deniability. It he doesn’t see it then he can trust Gabe’s word about what went down. But in this instance they’d been in Dorado to participate in the annual Festival de la Luz, to celebrate the end of the Omnic Crisis.

 

That facility was founded primarily to keep a sharp eye on Lumerico, although Los Muertos was definitely now on both their, and Gabriel’s radar.

 

There is another one up north in New Mexico which he had recently set up to keep an eye on the active, and concerning, Deadlock Gang. Eventually he’s going to have to take care of that. But for now the facility is there, and two of his agents are in deep cover with the Gang, feeding intel back.

 

He has a number of deep cover agents around the world, ones he’s trained himself, and ones he know are loyal and unlikely to double cross them. Deep cover can be tricky, and many agents crack under the pressure...or are seduced by the idea of playing both sides. Gabe is determined to have as few Blackwatch Agents as possible go down that dark path.

 

The rest of his Agents primarily live in the massive Blackwatch wing, accessible only through one crossover catwalk from the main building, and an underground hanger full of vehicles and aircraft, for exclusive use of the Blackwatch teams.

 

They’re a motley bunch of people, but Gabe is rather fond of them. He initially tried not to be, their work is dangerous, and many, if not most, of these men and women he trains will end up being buried by him too. But he’s not the type for personal detachment. It’s not in his nature...he gets attached, he can’t help it.

 

He suspects they’re rather attached to each other too, and him as well.

 

Sombra shadows him around the wing, but he doesn’t discourage her. He wants her to see, wants her to know he trusts her, that these doors and resources are open to her. He wants her to see how he trains his agents, how he’s tough on them but fair. He’ll be the same with her when the time comes..if she decides to join them officially.

 

Both Gabe and Jack insist that she start formal schooling, which she complains about endlessly, trying to wiggle out of it. In this though, they are a completely united front, Jack putting his foot down, and laying down the law in that authoritative tone that leaves Sombra sulking but obedient.

 

Once she starts however, she devours it with an appetite for learning that can only be described as voracious. She’s ferociously intelligent, and her tutor’s report cards are glowing. Jack is prodigiously proud of her, Gabriel knows for a fact that her best one has been pinned to his Board of Important Things (Reinhardt named it) hanging in his office.

 

Fareeha and Sombra strike up a competitive friendship, studying together, playing together, and doing the children’s version of training together too. Fareeha is much taller than Sombra, with a stronger build. She’s also a few years older, giving her an advantage. But while Gabe has been teaching her to play dirty, Fareeha only uses those skills as a last resort.

 

Whereas Sombra plays to win.

 

She’s faster, lighter, more agile on her feet, and sometimes manages to run circles around the more honourable older girl.

 

It drives Fareeha crazy, which Gabe quietly thinks is good for her. Fareeha worships her mother, Jack and Reinhardt, and sees honor as being of paramount importance. Sombra grew up an orphan among many others, scrapping to survive. She’d done better than most...but it meant she played dirty.

 

He thought Fareeha might grow tired of hanging out with a girl younger and smaller, but it turned out that he needn’t have worried.

 

Fareeha liked a challenge. And Sombra was always challenging.

 

The sound of laughter from the training yards and courts never failed to make Jack and Ana smile, even when they came back from missions or briefings that left lines etched on their faces. And in Gabriel’s opinion, anything that lifts those worried frowns, was all to the good.

 

* * *

 

“Why hasn't Uncle Jack gotten married?” Fareeha asks her mother one afternoon as the winter bare branch tips brush against their apartment window. Sombra looks up, distracted from her algebra, and interested in the sudden change in topic.

 

Ana pauses, before lowering the teapot to the table and pouring both girls a soothing blend into their cups.

 

“Fareeha, that is not an appropriate question to ask,”

 

“But…” Fareeha frowns slightly, looking over to meet Sombra’s interested purple gaze before turning back to her mother, “But why?”

 

“Why are you asking?” her mother whisks away from the table before putting down a small plate of cookies with date in them. “It is his personal business _hayaati_ ,” she smooths a hand over Fareeha’s dark hair, and then her eyes meet Sombra’s.

 

The purple eyed girl can only hold the gaze for a few moments before she looks away also.

 

Ana sighs, “Your Uncle Jack is a good man, but he’s very much an all or nothing sort. He threw everything into the military...into the Task Force...and now into Overwatch. I do not think has enough room in his heart for another family when he has us. For him, we are his family.”

 

Fareeha nods, but she doesn’t look convinced. Sombra however considers Ana’s words closely, a small frown on her face.

 

What if Jack loses his family? What if they die? It’s possible, many missions are dangerous, especially Blackwatch Missions. What if he loses Gabriel, his brother, Fareeha who he sees as a niece, Ana his sister, and the rest. He takes it so personally, how does he disconnect?

 

“He doesn’t,” is Gabriel’s answer when she asks him, too curious to let the idea just disappear, “Jack is open hearted, it’s one of his best and worst characteristics.” The man leaned back in his seat, “It’s why we were the two chosen for the SEP from our unit. Jack is a bleeding heart, whereas I’m a hardass.”

 

Wrong, Sombra thought to herself, Gabriel cares, he just isn’t as open and obvious about it as Jack. But she knows how much he loves his Blackwatch agents, and dreads the day one of them dies. She knows that the pain of it will be terrible to their Commander.

 

She loves that he never asked whether she knew about SEP. He just assumes she knows about it at this point, and his confidence in her abilities is something that makes her chest warm.

 

“Jack doesn’t have another family, because to him, we’re enough,” Gabriel shakes his head, “Even though he could have both...he doesn’t want that life.”

 

“Why?”

 

“What else does he need?” Gabriel spreads his hands, “He has a family right here, right down to a bratty daughter.”

 

Sombra flushes, “ _Cabron_ ,” she mutters, “He does not see me like his daughter.”

 

“Language,” Gabriel scolds, but there’s no heat in the words, “And trust me..even if he doesn’t now, doesn’t mean that’s not the role you’re growing into for him. You should hear him bragging about you to some of the Overwatch Agents. He’s so proud,” His voice is teasing, and turns into laughter as she pegs something at him, “That’s no way to treat your superior Sombra.”

 

“Get stuffed, Bossman,” she informs him haughtily, and is rewarded by his laugh as she leaves his office, making her smile.

 

As she goes she wonders if Gabe is the same as Jack, if Blackwatch is the only family he thinks he needs. Two stubborn old soldiers, married to their jobs.

 

Clearly _someone_ needs to look after them.

 

Might as well be her, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: 2056 and the Deadlock Gang is busted.


	3. 2056: Mission: Deadlock Sting Operation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The only person you're destined to become is the person you decide to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The updates for this will be slow but definitely ongoing. Don't worry guys, I won't abandon you!

The afternoon light is fading from gold to red when Jesse sighs and sits up.

 

This is his favourite part of the canyon, tucked up high, but sheltered by a low rock wall. The wall protected him from the eagle eyes of the people on watch duty. And being up high, well...he could see everything he wanted to.

 

Sometimes he needed the escape, from Elizabeth's intent stare, Howard’s pointed comments and Jacob’s...everything.

 

They’d started the Deadlock gang to build something all of them needed, that all of them craved.  For young Elizabeth it was freedom and a family who would be there and support her through thick and thin. A good gang should be like that. For Jesse it had been the challenge, the excitement, the need to be doing and growing. He too had craved a place where he belonged, and he’d hoped Deadlock would be it.

 

Now it was like they were locked in a war.

 

Howard wanted riches, he wanted power, and like many folk, once he’d had a taste of it he became cruel and brutish. But that was nothing next to Jacob. He liked killing, liked revenge and he had a tendency towards sexual perversion that made Jesse’s skin crawl. Neither he, nor Ashe had known this about him prior to going into business. By the time these traits had surfaced...well it had been too late.

 

Ashe wouldn’t stand for their abuse of power, and Jesse had backed her, pitting half of Deadlock’s leadership against the other. 

 

This afternoon though, he’d taken a break from listening in on Howard and Jacob, using some stolen surveillance tech, and took the chance to lay back in the sun, letting the rays soak into his skin, and listen to the faint sounds of the Panorama diner, echoing off the canyons.

 

Ashe was out on a job, which meant McCree had had plenty of time to relax before returning to the clubhouse.

 

But now the sun had left his perch, and the shadows chilled on his skin, so he sits up with a disgruntled sigh and runs a hand through his hair, casually looking down at the lair.

 

And freezes.

 

Men in black, serious looking, gear, are rappelling down the side of the canyon that they all thought was impregnable. On their backs are rifles and other top spec weaponry and when he peers at the shadowed ground below, he can see a group of them already there, arming up and slowly fanning out to surround the Lair, and the Cave of mysteries.

 

Mercenaries? He wonders before frowning slightly.

 

They move with precision, and the gear is nondescript but clearly of a high quality, even from this distance.

 

There is a purpose to their movements, splitting off into co-ordinated groups and fanning out to cover all the ground. This is a raid, and a well planned one at that.

 

For a moment he considers staying where he is.

 

These assholes could storm the base and deal with Howard and Jacob, it would solve so many problems…

 

But unfortunately there are more people in there than the two Deadlock gang leaders. And they trust their lives to Jesse.

 

He swears silently and leaves his hideaway.

 

* * *

 

“Report,” Gabriel murmurs into his comm, and nods in satisfaction, as check ins flow in. Nothing better than a well planned op, although he knows once they engage the gang members inside, things will probably go pear shaped.

 

“Transport checking in,” 

 

Gabe scowls at his comm, and resolutely ignores the grins of the Blackwatch agents around him.

 

“Sombra, where is Richards?”

 

It had not been his idea to bring a young girl on this op, even one who’d been living, training and studying with Overwatch and Blackwatch for years now, and if Jack knew that Sombra was here, he’d be shouting the rocks down from the canyon walls. But the scamp had stowed away on the air carrier after Gabriel had banned her from coming.

 

He’d delivered her an ear blistering reprimand and told Richards to watch her on the aircraft. If she set one foot on the ground, it would be the young pilot who got fired.

 

She’d flushed a dark red, with those big purple eyes glistening with tears she refused to let fall, and he’d known in his gut that her reaction was honest and hurt, and he felt like a monster. Sombra was precocious, and intelligent, but she was still so young. As her future commanding officer she needed to learn when his rules and orders had to be followed. Hacking the SEP files was one thing. Blatant disobeying him in front of his agents? That was something very different.

 

But it seemed that even chastened she needed to be involved somehow.

 

“He’s here.” Sombra sighs, he can hear it in her voice, “He’s keeping a close eye on me.”

 

“Good. Maintain radio silence.”

 

He lifts a hand and twirls the finger like a lasso, signalling the teams forwards.

 

And it’s going perfectly until a bullet crack shatters the tense silence.

 

Rizzo slumps nearby, blood spilling out from a neat hole in his skull to stain the golden red sands. For a fraction of a second Gabriel is frozen, surprise shocking his limbs before he barks, “Contact! Hostile at the rear!”

 

From inside the Gang den, shouts fill the air, and Gabriel winces, biting down an expletive.

 

Their careful approach.

 

All his plans.

 

No time to mourn them he thinks to himself grimly, straightening up and signalling his agents to take up defensive positioning. Their enemy is coming to them now.

 

Another bullet cracks through the air, and Calavera flinches nearby, obviously hit by something. A sniper? Gabriel wonders, scanning the elevated areas of the canyon. It certainly hadn’t sounded like a rifle, but there was definitely shots coming at them from a distance behind them.

 

“Sniper?” Antonov is beside him, slender and slight but deadly too, and he knows those golden green eyes are scanning the walls as well.

 

“Not sure.” the footsteps are almost on them, “Take Frey and Boll with you, find the sniper, or whatever it is. Remember I want the Gang members alive if possible, but if its a choice between free or dead....”

 

“Dead is better. Got it Bossman.” Antonov disappears as Gabe rolls his eyes. His agents have started calling him that after they heard Sombra use it, and he doesn’t have the heart to scold them.

 

From there on out it’s a full on firefight, with screams, yells and gunshots everywhere. Sand flies, and these Deadlock thugs are determined, that’s for sure. Soon enough however the fighting is over, and Gabriel puffs a sigh of relief as his agents move through the incapacitated or dead gang members, cuffing them.

 

“Report.”

 

All the teams report in, until the end, “Antonov here,”

 

“Report Agent,” Gabriel kicks a plume of sand as the criminal processing begins, “What happened?”

 

“Well…” It was unusual for Antonov to be so unsure, “It’s hard to explain.”

 

Gabriel frowns, “I taught you to be more concise than that, Agent.”

 

“Yessir,” there is a pause, “Only…”

 

“Only what?”

 

“Well there was a man on the ridge, firing down at us. With a revolver.”

 

Gabriel doubletakes, “A  _ revolver _ ?” 

 

“Yes sir,” Antonov sounds impressed, which isn’t easy. Normally he’s cool as a cucumber, “Like something out of those Western films the Strike Commander thinks will be bonding exercises.” 

 

Gabriel bites down a snicker, before it dies on his lips.

 

Revolvers aren’t known for accuracy, better up close and personal, but this sniper on the canyon had managed to nail Rizzo in the head and injure Calavera too.

 

“Sir,” Antonov’s voice is quiet, “Frey and Boll are dead sir,”

 

Of course they are. Gabriel squeezes his eyes closed. He wish he could say he’d miss them, but they’d been Jack’s idea, not wanting to turn them away while their ruthless nature better suited Blackwatch. 

 

No...he wasn’t too distraught over losing them.

 

“Have you apprehended the sniper?” 

 

“Yessir. He’s a slippery bastard though, gave me the slip a few times. I almost lost him.”

 

That makes Gabe pause, nudging a red rock with the toe of his boot. 

 

There was a reason he’d sent Antonov. The kid was young, but he was a genius with tech, and the best assassin he’d ever seen. Silent, deadly and with an uncanny cat like grace. For him to almost lose a random gang member...multiple times?

 

He was intrigued.

 

“Bring him down for processing.”

 

“Yessir!”

 

There was silence for a blissful moment before his comm beeps again.

 

“Can I leave the plane now?”

 

Gabriel pinches the bridge of his nose.

 

* * *

 

 

Jesse is still fighting like a wildcat when they haul him in and grimly cuff him to a chair in a trailer. It’s clearly one of those easily transportable contraptions, and his chair is securely bolted to the floor.

 

Whoever these guys are...this is some serious business.

 

“Name?” A bored man in black tac gear demands, staring down at a file in his hands.

 

It's the man who apprehended him, slender, young, god he couldn’t be much older than Jesse himself, and he may look even younger because of a baby face with cherubic features and ridiculous dark gold curls. 

 

There had been nothing ridiculous about the way he moved though, like a desert cat.

 

Dangerous.

 

“Joel Martin.”

 

The man hums disinterestedly, and notes something down on a page, before something is shoved in his face and scanners run over his features, and take his fingerprints.

 

He struggles of course, but it's no use.

 

“Jesse McCree.” Gold green eyes are locked on his now, and the bored disinterest is gone as swiftly as fog in the hot sun, “Founder of the Deadlock Gang.”

 

“One of em.” he bared his teeth, “Nice to meetcha.”

 

He’s stared at again, in a strange dispassionate way that makes him feel distinctly uneasy. 

 

Gang members were easy to read, either they wanted your food, your money or your body, and it was all obvious, like a book, highlighted for extra visibility. But this man’s look was cool, detached. Like Jesse is a specimen of bug pinned to a card.

 

Then the young man turns and leaves without another word.

 

“Hey!” Jesse yells after him, but is met with the deadened silence of the inside of the trailer.

 

* * *

 

“Jesse McCree?” Gabe stares at Antonov, as he accepts the tablet for him, scanning over the information they have on the four pillars of Deadlock, “Really?”

 

“Tried to pass himself off as a Joel Martin,” Antonov nods, smirking faintly, “But the bioscanner worked like a dream.” 

 

Gabe nodded absently, reading through the file, which is woefully lacking in detail.

 

“Sir, we have Howard Bradley in custody as well.”

 

Another Deadlock leader. It made this raid immediately worth it, to wipe out half of Deadlock’s power structure in one go. Jack would be thrilled, and Gabe could sleep well knowing some nasty sons of bitches are locked up.

 

But still he scanned McCree’s file.

 

“This file has nothing,” he grumbles quietly and Antonov shrugs.

 

“Criminals are hard to track Bossman.”

 

The nickname pings something off in his brain and he grins.

 

Antonov eyes him warily, “Sir?”

 

Gabriel touches his comm, “Sombra?”

 

“Yes Bossman, I’m still in the plane, still behaving. Still bored.”

 

Gabriel’s grin widens, “I have a project for you.”

 

* * *

 

Jesse tries every trick he knows to get himself free, but none of them work, much to his frustration. He tries all of them twice, just to be sure, before he wiggles with annoyance in the chair. Even so, it feels like an eon before the door opens once more to reveal a tall, broad shouldered man, with heavy, but handsome features, and a set of sharp hazel green eyes. 

 

He also has this air about him that almost makes Jesse suck in a breath, an aura of control and command, confidence worn as naturally as body armor.

 

“So, Jesse McCree.” the man has a tablet in his hand, presumably his police file displayed upon it, “Aged 17, founder of the Deadlock gang with 3 other associates.” 

 

“That’s me,” he tips his head in a way he’s heard is charming.

 

The man barely glances at him, “Father deceased from an alcohol related vehicle accident, Mother, remarried with step children,” he lists, and Jesse feels his heart clench. He hasn’t seen his parents since he’d left with Elizabeth, leaving them enough wealth from Elizabeth’s no good parents to live comfortably the rest of their days. He just hadn’t ever expected to hear about how they’d moved on.

 

“Good early grades, teachers saw a lot of potential…” 

 

The file is comprehensive in a way that makes his skin crawl. Every detail of his life, every misdemeanor, every skill, every move he’s made, is listed out to him in that deep drawl. He tries to hide his discomfort, but he doesn’t think he does a good job, when the man lowers the tablet and runs those sharp eyes over him.

 

“I’m here to offer you a choice.” 

 

“What kinda choice?” Jesse’s wary. He’s heard about deals being made to avoid significant jail time, selling out the Gang to save himself. Howard might do that, or Jacob, but something balks inside him at the thought of being a traitor to his mates.

 

“The kind that don’t happen often….or ever.” The man walks forward and takes a seat opposite him, muscles shifting under his serious looking tac gear. Jesse swallows nervously. He’s a good fighter, had to prove himself again and again in the Gang, despite founding it, but he’s got a gut feeling he’d lose every day and twice on Sundays to the man sitting opposite him. And he trusts his gut.

 

“Okay…” he eyes him suspiciously, “Whatcha got?”

 

The mouth quirks up slightly, but the eyes remain serious, “You have two choices. Jail, where you will remain for the majority of your adult life.” Jesse shudders, “Or...you join us, as an Agent.”

 

“Join?” Jesse splutters slightly, surprised and thrown and not liking the sensation one little bit, “Join what? Your merc band?”

 

The man’s heavy brows knit together, and he lets out a sigh, “No one told you. Jesus. Alright, I suppose that’s fair.” He reaches into a pouch and produces a medallion.

 

Overwatch.

 

Jesse’s mouth falls open.

 

“You’re...you’re  _ Overwatch _ ?” God no wonder they hadn’t had a snowflake’s chance in hell, Overwatch was the stuff of legends. And after seeing them work today he had to say, the legends were real.

 

Then his stomach plummeted. He killed Overwatch Agents. 

 

“In a manner of speaking.” The man sets the medallion down on the table. “I’m the leader of their Black Ops division. Covert missions, dangerous but then you don’t seem to mind danger.”

 

“Why….?” Jesse stumbles over his words, “I shot at your men.”

 

“And me.” the man’s lips smirk briefly, “It’s something I’m used to. And when I get a new Agent candidate I give them one test. Evade my Agents.”

 

Jesse gives him his best fake grin and rattles his handcuffs.

 

The other man's smirk widens slightly, “The man you led on a merry goose chase is one of my best operatives. An assassin of the highest calibre. To evade him at all is impressive, to almost lose him five times? That’s something I pay attention to. And then there’s the fact you nailed one of my Agents, at range with this.” he puts Jesse’s revolver down on the table and he itches to grab it, “Clearly you’ve got good aim, a good eye, a knack for combat that I look for in all my Agents.”

 

“Are you insane?” Jesse asks, and the brows snap together again, “Just a question…”

 

“I’ll let you think about it.” The man stands, and he seems to fill the space for a moment, before he disappears out the door.

 

God, Overwatch. Over.  _ Fucking _ . Watch

 

A part of him finds it hard to believe, hard to fathom that the great and mighty Overwatch would notice a Gang like Deadlock, Sure they’ve been stepping up their targets, and their activity, but still, to get on the radar of Overwatch?

 

Elizabeth would be ecstatic that they’d garnered such attention, but then she wasn’t here, in this damn trailer, facing a prison sentence.

 

The door opens again suddenly and Jesse glances up in surprise. Surely the man wasn’t back for an answer that quickly.

 

But it wasn’t him. 

 

Instead Jesse came face to face with a young girl, on the cusp of her teens, with smooth golden brown skin, black hair and vividly purple eyes.

 

“Hola,”

 

Jesse blinks.

 

“Hey there…”

 

The girl grins at him and sits herself down neatly in the chair that the black suited man had left as he stares at her in utter bemusement.

 

She couldn’t be Overwatch, surely. Even Deadlock didn’t have children in their ranks…

 

Well...not  _ children _ , children…

 

“So, are you going to join?” 

 

The girl's voice is light, melodic, soothing almost, but underneath the casual tone Jesse can hear a sharp curiosity.

 

“Dunno,” He shrugs, “Don’t really know if I’m the Overwatch type.”

 

The girl snorts, “Oh you are definitely not the Overwatch type,  _ vaquero _ .” she chortles, and Jesse sits up a little, stung, “But then you won’t be in Overwatch.”

 

What…

 

“But he said…”

 

“Tch.” Sombra waves her hand, “Technically it’s still Overwatch...but really the only person you have to answer to is Gabe.”

 

“Gabe?”

 

“Gabriel Reyes.” her smile turns sharp, sharklike, “The man who offered you a place on his team.”

 

That was  _ Gabriel Reyes _ ?

 

The man who’d led the original Overwatch team? Hero of the Omnic crisis?

 

Jesse felt like his head was about to explode.

 

The girls eyes scan over him once more, taking in his shock.

 

“Why did you start Deadlock?” she asks suddenly, curiosity in her voice, “I looked at your file…” a tiny flash of a smirk on her lips, before she continues, “But there was nothing in there that could tell me why you would start a gang.”

 

“I don’t know that it’s any of your business darlin’,” Jesse retorts, leaning back in his chair, smiling faintly when annoyance flickers over the face of the girl before him.

 

“I…” she opens her mouth to continue when the door swings open once more and the man in the tac gear steps back in.

 

Gabriel Reyes.

 

“What the  _ hell  _ are you doing in here?”

 

There is a dangerous note in his voice and the hairs on the back of Jesse’s neck stand up before he realises the other man is speaking to the young girl, who gulps visibly.

 

“H-Hey Bossman.”

 

Reyes pinches the bridge of his nose, the first thing he’s done in Jesse’s presence that even hints at the idea he might not be in total control of the situation, and the young man’s lips quirk upwards.

 

“Sombra…” Reyes growls the word and Jesse realises that it must be the girl’s name, “What did I tell you about staying in the plane?”

 

“Don’t fire Richards!” Sombra jumps to her feet, “I sent him a message from your comm that told him I was allowed to come to this trailer only. He escorted me here and everything!”

 

“You sent him...Sombra! Get back to the ship, now.”

 

“Aw, but Gabe….”

 

Reyes’ eyes narrow and he fishes out his comm, “Waine,”

 

“Yes sir?” a female voice answers immediately.

 

“Come escort Sombra back to the ship, and tell Richards that she is not permitted to leave unless he hears it directly from my lips.”

 

“Roger that Commander.”

 

Sombra pouts, “But Gabe, I was just…” she glances at Jesse, and Reyes looks at him too.

 

“Harassing McCree?”

 

Sombra prickles, and Jesse hides a smile. Reyes catches the quirk about his mouth and Jesse’s almost sure he sees a flash of humour in those dark eyes, before he turns back to the girl.

 

“I was not harassing, I was asking him questions.”

 

“About…?”

 

Sombra pauses, “The gang.”

 

Reyes’ attitude shifts instantly from boss to concerned adult, and Jesse can’t help but watch them both, utterly fascinated.

 

“Sombra...Deadlock isn’t like Los Muertos.”

 

Los Muertos?

 

“Hell no we’re not,” he interjects here, and two pairs of eyes flick back to him, “Los Muertos fancy themselves some kind of revolutionaries.”

 

“Whereas Deadlock just likes robbing people?” Reyes jibes, and Jesse feels his own hackles prickling, “The philosophies of both groups are different, Sombra. As is the power structure. For instance,” and now that smile is sharp, rather like the sharklike grin Sombra had given him before. He’s pretty sure this is where she learned it from, “Deadlock has four founding members, each looking after different areas, and organising their own heists and ops. Or rather...Deadlock  _ had  _ four leaders. Down to two now.”

 

McCree pales slightly.

 

So he wasn’t the only one who’d been nabbed in the raid.

 

“Which brings me back to my original purpose here,” Reyes shoots Sombra a dark look which she grins nervously back at, “What’s your decision McCree? Jail, or Overwatch?”

 

Elizabeth would say there was only one real choice, that you didn’t betray family. But McCree is more practical.

 

What good would family loyalty do if he spent the next 20 years rotting in a cell?

 

So McCree reaches out, past the pistol that still lays there on the desk, and picks up the medallion.

 

Reyes smiles, a thin smile that showed he hadn’t really thought Jesse would choose the other option, and Sombra grins at him delightedly, her emotions far easier to read than her...mentor’s? Boss’s? He’s going to have to figure out the connection there at some point, but he knows it’s probably going to be the smallest part of everything he’s going to learn now he’s in Overwatch. 

 

A knock comes at the door and Reyes opens it to let the agent he’d called in, a smiling lady with auburn hair and bright blue eyes, clearly amused at her current task.

 

“Waine, take Sombra, and our new recruit back to the ship please.” Reyes eyes Jesse for a moment and then turns to leave, “Welcome to Overwatch, Agent McCree.”

 

* * *

 

“The Strike-Commander is waiting for us in the bay, Commander.”

 

Gabe pinches his nose and sighs, wishing, not for the first time, that his life was simpler, easier, and that he hadn’t picked up the troublemaking scrap of humanity back in Mexico all those years ago. He’d sent back a comm to Jack once he found out Sombra was on the ship, not wanting him to panic, as he would have done once he found out she was missing, and now he was going to be right there when Gabriel exited the ship with her...and his newest recruit.

 

Slowly they land and the loading ramp lowers, revealing the small Blackwatch hanger with personnel bustling around the carriers and one blue coated figure standing at the base, arms folded.

 

Sombra eeps.

 

The Blackwatch Agents all hide their smiles behind their hands. Agent Waine even gives a quiet chuckle, her blue eyes amused as Gabe fishes the young girl out from the front of the aircraft where she’s been hanging with McCree and propels her down the ramp to stand before Jack.

 

He’s got some sympathy for her, he knows Jack’s not going to go easy on her, but at the same time she’s caused him a lot of grief and stress today. Hopefully this will teach her about the chain of command, without completely repressing that rebellious streak they both love.

 

“Sombra,” Jack’s voice is stern, and Sombra shuffles, toe scuffing the end of the ramp as she fails to meet his gaze, “I am very disappointed in you.”

 

“Harsh…” Waine whispers to Richards, who has come back to witness this with the rest of them, “Going for the disappointed dad angle. That’s brutal.”

 

“Do you think that will work on our Sombra?” Antonov mutters back.

 

“If it were anyone other than the Strike-Commander or our Commander...or maybe Captain Amari, no it wouldn't.” Richards shakes his head, “Everyone knows the Strike-Commander loves her like a daughter.”

 

Gabe meanwhile can see that Sombra’s shoulders have tensed, and she’s still not looking up at Jack. She can’t hear the conversation going on behind him thankfully, but he can see that Jack’s words have hit her hard.

 

“Go to your quarters Sombra, I’ll be there to talk to you after I debrief with Commander Reyes.” he pauses and then looks up the ramp, clearly looking for a volunteer to babysit until he can get there.

 

Suddenly all the Blackwatch agents at Gabe’s back are very busy.

 

He hides a grin.

 

“She’ll go, won’t you Sombra?”

 

It’s not really a question, but a warning, and Sombra knows that she’s pushed both of them far enough today.

 

She nods silently and leaves the hanger without a word, something that makes Richards whistle in surprise, before all the agents troop out of the aircraft, McCree cleverly hidden among them as Gabriel distracts Jack, walking down to meet him.

 

“I hear you were successful.”

 

His best friend grins at him, open and pleased, and Gabe can’t help but grin back, “Deadlock shouldn’t be a problem for a little while, not with half their leadership gone.”

 

“I heard Bruce Howards was in custody but I didn’t get a report on any of the others…did I lose a inmate form?” Jack frowns slightly, tapping at his tablet.

 

“Not exactly...the kid is only 17 years old.” Gabe hedges wondering how to broach it, but it seems Jack knows him even better than he thinks, because suddenly those blue eyes are on his once more, “Uh…”

 

“Gabriel Mateo Reyes.” Jack’s voice has that icy edge Gabe hates.

 

“Jack…”

 

“Tell me you did not pick up another stray.”

 

“Well…”

 

“I can’t believe you!” Jack hits him with his tablet, hard enough that the sound against Gabriel’s tac gear is enough to make him wince, “This isn't a game Gabe! We’re a global peacekeeping organisation! There’s no place for Gang leaders in Overwatch.”

 

“Good thing we’re not talking about Overwatch then isn’t it.” Gabe snaps back, and Jack flinches, “Jesus Jack, Blackwatch isn’t about peacekeeping...not in the traditional sense. We’re not going to be down there delivering aid, or assisting rebuilding efforts. Blackwatch is for the stuff Overwatch can’t be seen doing but has to be done to keep the world safe. You need a certain kind of person for it.”

 

“A gang member.”

 

“He killed Rizzo from the side of a cliff with a battered piece of shit revolver, and he almost gave Antonov the slip...several times.”

 

“So you want to reward him with a place in Overwatch after he’s killed Overwatch agents.”

 

“Rizzo should never have been allowed on the field,” Gabe insists, “He should never have been transferred to Blackwatch. You have to trust me Jack….this kid...he’s got so much potential. I’d be a fool to throw away a gift this good simply because of his past.”

 

Jack sighs, and Gabe knows that he’s won, for now at least. Jack’s hatred of Gangs and their ilk is well known, and he’s sure McCree will have a hell of a task on his hands convincing the Strike-Commander as to the potential Gabe can already see. But for now, McCree will be a Blackwatch recruit.

 

“Fine...we’ll do this your way.” Jack grips his shoulder, “Just...god I hope you’re right about him Gabe.”

 

And he smiles, with all the confidence he really doesn’t have.

 

“I am.”

 

* * *

 

Sombra squirms as Jack stares her down in her quarters.

 

“I just wanted to see what it was like…”

 

“You aren’t old enough yet.” Jack’s voice is stern, “Remember our deal? When you turn 18 you can choose to join Overwatch or Blackwatch but until then, you are a civilian in our care and we can’t have you going to active combat-zones.” 

 

“I wasn’t in danger…”

 

“You could have been.” Jack’s voice grows even harder if possible and Sombra flushes miserably, “God, Olivia, do you even…”

 

He moves forward and wraps his arms around her and the young girl clings to him in return.

 

“Do you know what it would have done to me, to Gabe, to Ana, if something had happened to you on that mission?”

 

“The U.N. wouldn’t have cared…” he mumbles back and is rewarded by an exasperated sigh as Jack draws back slightly, looking down into her eyes. 

 

“I’m not talking officially,” Jack sighs again, “It would have broken our hearts. Did you ever think of that?”

 

Sombra stares up at him, clearly shocked, and he shakes his head, “I always forget that you haven’t always had this to rely on...a family. But you do.” he takes her hands in his, “Olivia if you’d been killed or hurt on this mission Gabe would have blamed himself…”

 

“But I...it wasn’t…” 

 

“It could have. What if a member of the Gang had gotten to the rear and decided to escape via the aircraft.”

 

“Richards…”

 

“Is an excellent pilot but he’s not infallible. Neither are we...neither are you.” he kisses her forehead, “There are times when you can disobey, there are orders you can ignore...but you have to learn when they are absolute. And until you have...then you are too young to be an Agent. Do you understand?”

 

Sombra’s nod is reluctant, “Yes Jack.”

 

He smiles softly, and she feels her heart squeeze, “That’s my girl.”


End file.
